Low rolling resistance
Great grip
Excellent wear
Good cornering
Fast!

Not so good in mud or really loose stuff.

I bought these for cheap and had very low expectations, but have been so happy with them I had to write a review. First of all, these roll really well. I now prefer them to my road tires because they feel smooth and are more versatile: I can do a fast paced ride to a trail and then ride the trail on the same tires.

Also, they grip and ride really well on hardpack, off camber and gravel. My intention was to use these only for training but I have also raced on them with excellent results.

Another review noted poor cornering but my experience has been excellent cornering, beyond that of many road tires I've ridden.

Their only weakness is mud, where they don't have much traction to speak of. The wire bead version is also a bit heavy, but the folding version is light and I fully intend to buy some when these wear out!

Virtually no noticeable wear after about 500 miles. Easy to mount on Mavic Ksyrium wheels. Relatively light, weighed 355 grams on my scale.

None so far.

Finished building a cyclocross bike and started training for the Fall race season. Have a set of Challenge Grifo tubulars on Easton EA70X for racing, but use the Speedmax Pros on Mavic Ksyrium SL3's for training. The tires are pretty impressive. I've been experimenting with different tire pressures. When training more on the pavement I have been running about 65 psi and drop down to around 50 psi when running most off-road. The tires do really well in gravel and loose dirt. Have not had a chance yet to try them in the mud other than a few puddles.

Similar Products Used:

Challenge Grifo XS open tubular

Great rolling resistance, good wear, versitile

wet pavement

I bought the Ritchey Speedmax Pro 32 for use on roads, rough pavement and dirty roads. These have great rolling resistance and take a lot of the bump out of bad roads. I am mighty impressed with their grip and wear.

Similar Products Used:

Michelin Cyclocross Jet

Smooth rolling on pavement for a cross tire. Very good on gravel roads. Very stable.

None so far.

I have the 700x40 size. Non folding. Great tire. Bought these tires several years ago, but didn't use them because I didn't thing that they would work well on gravel roads. Thought that I needed more knobs. Boy was I wrong. These tires are wonderful for the combination of paved and gravel roads that I ride on. Far better than the knobbier tires that I was using before. Pretty smooth rolling on pavement and quite sure footed on gravel. It is the fact that they were better on gravel than the knobby tires that surprised me. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

WTB and Kenda cross tires.

Just about everything.

wet pavement and cornering.

Follow up, getting close to 5,000 on one tire 3,500-4,000 on the other and ridden in mixed conditions. They are awesome between all these miles I can count the # flats on one hand I have had overall. Virtually no tread wear so far.

Seems really tough, pretty comfortable ride. Long lasting. Price

Mud

Really have enjoyed these tires for 3,000 plus miles they are tough tread seems to last forever. Have had only 2 flats on them both were some real nasty nail large nails. Had to replace front tire at 2,000 when a chunk of the tire went missing on the sidewall larger than a pencil eraser exposing the tube, but they got me home w/o a flat. Get a little nervous on fast conering on pavement with these puppies when I hear the knobbies.

Similar Products Used:

Kenda Cross

The price shown is for a pair. So they don't cost a lot. These are very surefooted on wet or dry grass an hard pack. No cross tire's much good in sand, these are as good as they'll get. The flat center section rolls well on pavement and these things are the bomb for gravel and shell roads. For a course without a lot of mud these will race for you and can take you anywhere a road or cross bike belongs.

These don't work all that well in mud, so if you race where that's an issue have another wheelset. The knobs along the side of the tread that work so well off road will be a bit squirmy during fast cornering on pavement. This is true of any cross tire with this type of design. The tire wears faster than a regular road tire as expected.

I've used these to satisfy by cyclocrossing tendencies on my old road bike. They are fast rollers on pavement and have good traction straight and through corners off-road. They are an easy install and take high enough pressures to not slow your road riding

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No other clincher cross tires, but all sorts of road and MTB tires. No good comparisons though

Low road noise & low rolling resistance

Really stickey mud does not shed too well if you are constantly riding in it. You really need some sections of hardpack/pavement to help clear the mud out. Like any other CX tire, I suspect that they won't last too long if you commute with them on a daily basis.

I am 5'7" & 153 lbs. My off-road trail near home is the service trail for the commuter train. The terrain varies from grassland, loose gravel, hardpack, mud, pockets of water after a good rain, & ruts made by the 4x4 service trucks. The tires installed very easily & I inflated them to the max, 90psi, as I will commute to work with them as well. My baseline comparison would be with the Bontrager CX Jones, inflated to max 75psi & Micheline Jets, inflated to 80psi. Zooming around the neighborhood, I was very pleasently surprised at how quiet these tires are on the road, very comparable to the Mich Jets whereas the Bontragers would growl. They seem pretty quick too & I will agree that they offer the low rolling resistance. Likewise, they do not have the harsh feel while riding on bad roads or even the sidewalks (a portion of my morning commute at 6:30am takes place on the sidewalks as cars zooming by at 90km/hr is definitely not good for one's longevity, no pesdestrians walking around either). Off the road & onto the trail, they hook up really nicely in all circumstances. If you are riding in the really sticky mud, of the crunchy peanut butter variety, it fills in all the grooves between the VFA side knobs & in the center diamond pattern, between the baffles. It fairs worse than the Bontragers, which have a wide dispersed square knobby pattern, but definitely much better than the Jets, with the tight chevron pattern (which jam packs with mud). After exiting the trail & onto the road once again, a few meters is all that will take to throw all the gunk off the tires & onto you & the frame, of course Overall, I am happy with them.

Similar Products Used:

Bontrager CX Jones, Michelin Cyclocross Jets, Vittoria Randonneur Cross